Janette Sadik-Khan | |
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Born |
San Francisco, California |
April 28, 1960
Nationality | American |
Alma mater |
Occidental College Columbia Law School |
Occupation | Civil service |
Spouse(s) | Mark A. Geistfeld |
Parent(s) | Orhan Sadik-Khan Jane McCarthy |
Website | www |
Signature | |
Janette Sadik-Khan (born April 28, 1961 in San Francisco, California) is a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation (2007-2013) and an advisor on transportation and urban issues. She currently serves as a principal at Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy established by former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg that advises mayors around the world to improve the quality of life for their residents. She is the author of the book "Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution," based on her experience as commissioner and her new role as global transportation advisor. She also serves as chairperson for the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), a coalition of the transportation departments of 40 large cities nationwide.
Janette Sadik-Khan was born in San Francisco, California, and moved to New York City as a child. She is the daughter of Orhan Sadik-Khan, managing director of UBS Paine Webber, and Jane McCarthy, a former reporter for the New York Post.
She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law. She is married to Mark Geistfeld, a professor at New York University School of Law, with whom she has one child.
She served at the New York City Department of Transportation during the administration of Mayor David Dinkins and became the mayor’s transportation advisor. Sadik-Khan subsequently worked as deputy administrator at the United States Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. under President Bill Clinton, and she was a Senior Vice President at Parsons Brinckerhoff, an international transportation engineering firm.
Sadik-Khan was appointed transportation commissioner by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2007 and served in that role until 2013. Her tenure was marked by significant changes to New York City streets and public spaces, including the conversion of road space into bike lanes and into pedestrian plazas, notably along Broadway at Times Square and Herald Square. Called a "bicycle visionary" by the New York Times, "equal parts Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses," by New York magazine, and one of "The Most Innovative and Practical Thinkers of Our Time" by Slate, Sadik-Khan oversaw the building of nearly 400 miles of bike lanes and more than 60 pedestrian plazas in New York City, and she worked with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to create seven rapid bus routes across the city. She led the creation of Citi Bike, a bike share network of 6,000 bikes—the nation’s largest—which has since been expanded to 12,000 bikes in three boroughs. Over her six and a half years in office, approximately 180 acres of former New York City road space for motor vehicles was converted to use by bicycles and pedestrians, and another 44 acres designated as bus-only lanes.